British soldier pleads guilty to Iraqi prisoner abuse

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This photograph shows a civilian being abused by a British soldier.Photo: AFP

A British soldier pleaded guilty today to one count of beating
an Iraqi captive, while he and two others pleaded not guilty to all
other charges as their court-martial opened on allegations they
mistreated Iraqis.

Photos of alleged mistreatment published in a British newspaper
in the northern spring of 2003 led to investigations against the
three men, and it is the first case of alleged abuse of Iraqis by
British soldiers to go to trial.

The defendants, all from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, showed
little emotion as they entered their pleas at a British base in
Germany, answering Judge Michael Hunter only with "guilty" or "not
guilty."

Lance Corporal Darren Larkin, 30, pleaded guilty to battery for
assaulting and beating an Iraqi in his custody as the trial opened.
But he pleaded not guilty to indecent conduct for allegedly forcing
two Iraqi detainees to undress in front of others.

It was the first time the charges were officially announced, and
it was not immediately clear what possible punishments they
face.

Cooley is accused of placing an Iraqi captive with bound hands
on the front of a forklift and driving it around, and also
simulating punching and kicking a detainee while someone else took
photographs.

Kenyon, who outranks the other defendants, is accused of being
present while abuse was taking place - including naked captives
being forced into simulated sex acts - and not reporting it. He
also faces a charge of being an accessory in the battery to which
Larkin pleaded guilty.

The abuse allegedly happened in May 2003 while the three
soldiers were stationed at a food warehouse compound outside Basra
in southern Iraq, according to British media reports.

The photographs showed an Iraqi detainee gagged and bound,
suspended in the air in a cargo net hoisted by a forklift. Other
pictures showed simulated sexual acts involving stripped Iraqi
detainees.

A fourth soldier, 20-year-old Fusilier Gary Bartlam, went on
trial last week in the same case at a different British base in
Germany but Hunter imposed a gag order on journalists, banning any
reporting about the process.

Bartlam, whose rank is equivalent of private, is the lowest
ranking of the four soldiers.

Last week in the United States, US Army Specialist Charles
Graner was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the first trial
stemming from scandal over abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib
prison.